Is a cleaning product "green" or isn't it? Who knows?

For several years, we have been concerned with the amount of toxins and chemicals everywhere. It seems that so many illnesses are on the rise. We just don't remember so many health issues when we were growing up. There are more cases of childhood cancer, autism, asthma, ADHD, childhood obesity, allergies, premature births, fertility; the list goes on and on. We believe this can be traced back to our dependency on products made with toxic chemicals. We are not the only ones who believe this to be the case; numerous studies have been conducted to support this theory.

Reducing the toxins in a person's life can be pretty overwhelming, considering they exist in almost everything we use. We decided we needed a place to start since it is too hard to change a whole life at once. Besides, it is just not realistic. Our first steps were to start with our home's and find a new way to clean. We read books and magazines and did internet research. We found some very interesting information out about the cleaning industry. They are not required to disclose all of their ingredients. We read the following in Green This!; "The law does not require the cleaning-product industry to list ingredients that make up less than 0.1 percent of listed carcinogens or 1 percent of listed OSHA chemicals. The labels on most cleaning products list only "active" ingredients and omit 'inactive' or 'inert' ingredients, even those that are potentially harmful. In many cases, these chemicals can make up as much as 98 percent of the product. I checked it out and it’s true. Here is what I found on some disinfecting wipes that I used to use - Active ingredients: Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride 0.145%, Ethylbenzyl Ammonium Chloride 0.145%, Other ingredients 99.710%. What is in this other 99.710%?"

We have also discovered that the toxic cleaning companies have decided there is a demand for nontoxic alternatives to their products. They are trying to cash in on the green movement without removing all the toxins. For example, they have lavender scented products, but they don't have to disclose if the lavender is from a plant or synthetic. Since there are no regulations, they can still call the product green even if they use synthetic raw materials. They can also claim to be "natural" or "green" by just removing the ammonia or chlorine bleach, while still keeping the other toxins or synthetic ingredients. Just as there is no federal regulation on the word “nontoxic”, there is also no regulation on the word “biodegradable”. Using the word biodegradable doesn’t really mean anything unless we know how long it will take for something to biodegrade. Plutonium is biodegradable, as are other items we certainly don’t want in our homes.  We are not saying all companies do this, but if they don't state on the label "We disclose all ingredients" and that the product is “readily biodegradable” don't buy it. You can't be sure if it is any better than the known toxic products. We also believe that if they are condifent that their "green lines" are as effective as the toxic products they produce then they should stop producing the toxic products.

This is what led to TraceyClean. We are tired of not knowing what is in the bottle of cleaning product we are purchasing. Or buying something, only to find it featured in the media as not being a green product when it clearly looks like its environmentally friendly. We decided by making our own products we can control what our families are subjected to in our homes.  We researched natural cleaning ingredients and essential oils to come up with products that clean effectively and smell great. The pure essential oils that we use have to have effective cleaning and antibacterial properties and a pleasant scent. Our homes are cleaner, safer, and smells better than when we used traditional cleaners. The products we have developed are for people that want to know they are getting a safe and effective cleaning product that is truly natural.